A PLAY ABOUT HAVING ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD... "CONSTELLATIONS"

 Shall we give this play critiquing another shot…  ? And I’m going to be honest with you folks, I’m a little taken aback at how all-consuming this passion for acting and all things theatre has become… It has literally taken over everything now, so much so that I am surprised at myself. Only thing is, I’m going to have to try and figure out a way of making money from this soonish, otherwise it’s going to cease to become economically viable. Ehm – but less of that. Let’s talk about Constellations.

This is the “second” incarnation of Nick Payne’s critically acclaimed play. The original cast – Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins – have been replaced by relative unknowns Joe Armstrong and Louise Brealey. Thumbing through reviews I can see the critics have inevitably enjoyed comparing the two different casts and finding the new cast, not big stars like their predecessors, lacking. I haven’t seen the previous performance so I plan to do away with all that. Let’s go back to the basics of what this blog was all about. A novice finding her way in an art form and writing her impressions without the aid of flowery language and “flim-flammery” .

Alright. So what is this play about? We are all (at least vaguely I assume ) familiar with the theory of multiverses. It is, to put it succinctly, the theory that every decision we ever make and never make coexist in a series of parallel universes. Constellations takes on the rather daunting task of bringing this theory to a stage. No, it’s nowhere near as heavy as you think. It’s a two -man show revolving around a couple, Beekeeper Roland and Marianne, a scientist. They are a couple – or at least, they are in some universes.   We watch the key moments of their lives, and their relationships play out in at least some of their infinite possibilities. What follows is an avant-garde tragicomedy about hellos, goodbyes and the nature of love and time…

Now, I am fully aware that it sounds like it may turn into incomprehensible gobbledegook, rest assured it is neither too full of itself nor trying too hard. The scene (at this point much photographed) is striking in its simplicity and the play itself in the same way relies solely on the performances of its actors which are electric yet very down to earth and relatable. Whatever else they are Roland and Marianne are completely real, and more strikingly, they remain so through the number of incarnations they go through throughout the play. In fact, of course the story was engaging and fascinating but it wasn’t the bit of the play that engaged me the most. Watching the smoothness of the transitions Armstrong and Brealey go through as they zip backwards and forwards in the multiverse playing first once scene and then the other was hypnotic and, to put it bluntly, mind blowing.   

You might argue that the topic itself is hardly new. The now almost cult film Sliding Doors starring Gwenyth Paltrow is but one example of films that explore alternate stories and consequences of actions… But Constellations, able to distill the heart of the story into the performance of its actors and dispense with considerations such as continuity, scenery and costume (Roland and Marianne wear the same clothes throughout, as opposed to a film where the characters would inevitably “have” to change looks for every reality) can portray a dizzying number of possibilities. The play is quick and intelligent and invites its audience to be the same. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the same experience as the “dreamlike” state of watching a film passively analyzing. In a live show you are part of the action, part of the show. But then again, theatre has always been about  - and for – audiences that want a bit more brainwork for their buck… Some forms of theatre have been, anyway…     

I don’t know what I think of multiverses, cosmology aside. It has always felt a bit like reincarnation for atheists to me. You know, that need to feel we don’t quite vanish when we die, that we continue existing somewhere without going into the whole Religion, Heaven, Hell side of things. But Constellations definitely and strikingly explores the consequences of our actions and seeks out the answer to the question “what if…” I am pretty confident you will come away touched  yet renewed (there are some true-blue laugh out loud moments) and possibly wondering about your own what ifs… As I finish this article I have just become aware that the production at Trafalgar studios that I watched has now come to an end... But who knows - maybe in another universe...